This last weekend I had some experiences which might provide a window into what will happen in our upcoming Presidential Election…
I got the chance to have a long talk with a chronic fatigue syndrome patient I’ve known for a while, but we were usually in larger gatherings. “You know, Kent,” she said at one point, “I used to be a big time liberal in 2016. Both me and my husband. But now we’re both voting for Trump.”
I LOVE these types of conversations, because I’m always fascinated about what makes people change their minds. “How did that come about?” I asked.
“Well, I really respected you and Dr. Judy Mikovits. So when you and Judy said you were supporting Trump I was confused. But my father always told me that if you’re going to have a strong opinion about something, you need to research it. So I researched Trump and realized I’d been wrong about him. He’s fighting the corrupt system, and my side wasn’t.”
I thought of my own detours from orthodoxy.
When people accuse me of being set in my ways, I delight in telling them I voted TWICE for Bill Clinton because I’d become concerned about the Republican party becoming a party of the religious right. In his time, Bill Clinton was the best politician of his day, and I especially enjoyed the balancing of the budget under his administration.
I look for evidence of people changing their minds.
Despite the media talking about Republicans supporting Biden, those Republicans didn’t support Trump anyway in 2016. Maybe I live in a bubble, but it seems I only hear about former anti-Trump people turning pro-Trump. It doesn’t seem to go the other way.
This Sunday morning when I opened my Twitter account I read the following from my favorite political commentator these days, Scott Adams.
Campaign snapshot for Sunday:
Trump is fully recovered (it seems).
None of the 34 allegedly infected at White House seem to be in medical danger, including Chris Christie.
WHO announced it does not favor lockdowns.
The economy continues to improve.
Slaughter-meter – 100%
I have to thank Scott Adams for something else, which is how to be persuasive, especially about politics. I’ve written before about my two long-time friends who are rabidly anti-Trump.
After the recent Vice-Presidential debate between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris, I saw an opportunity to perhaps move the needle with two of my friends. Kamala brought up the “fine people” issue, which many have referred to as the “fine people hoax.” Since it was an issue at the debate, the “fact-checkers” got to work. Here’s what the BBC wrote:
Vice-presidential debate: Pence and Harris claims fact-checked
By Reality Check teamBBC News
Harris: “Trump said ‘there were fine people on both sides’ in far-right protests.”
Verdict: The quote is correct, but President Trump said in the same press conference that he wasn’t referring to neo-Nazis or white nationalists.
Kamala Harris brought up President Trump’s controversial comments following far-right protests in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. Violent clashes left one of the counter-protesters dead.
According to a transcript of a press conference on 15 August, President Trump did say – when asked about the presence of neo-Nazis at the rally – “you had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides.”
However, at the same press conference, Mr Trump went on to say “I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists, because they should be condemned totally.”
Adams has taken up the “fine people hoax” as his personal crusade, and suggested sending this quote from the BBC to anti-Trump friends and family. Adams considers the “fine people hoax” to be the most destructive lie in American history as it opens Trump supporters up to the possibility of physical violence. (Because of course you would be morally justified in beating up a white supremacist.)
I sent the BBC fact-check to my friends and waited to see what happened.
Adams encourages people to refer in conversation to the “fine people hoax,” as the “most destructive lie in American history,” as a way to frame the issue. It puts people in a different frame of mind as they consider whether it is the most destructive lie in American history.
It’s NOT important that the other person agrees that it’s the most destructive lie in American history. What is important is that they agree it IS a destructive lie.
Here’s what one of my friends wrote back, a few days later:
Thanks for sending this along. While I don’t perhaps believe that it is the most damaging lie in American history, I do agree that the news media’s repeated references to this quote, and Kamala Harris’ reference to it last night were purposefully misleading.
BINGO!!!
I’ve opened a channel in that friend’s mind. He now realizes that the main reason Joe Biden said influenced his decision to run for President is a lie.
Of course, the other friend is still a basket case, but you do what you can, right?
I genuinely believe on both ides of the political divide there’s about 10 to 30% of the people who actually listen to what their opponents are saying, and are willing to cross-over, at least for a single election.
I’ve crossed-over to the democratic side of the aisle when I believed my side was moving down the wrong path.
I think there are many on the democratic side of the aisle who are preparing to cross-over for Trump, just this once.
Be sure to order Kent Heckenlively’s new book with Dr. Judy Mikovits, PLAGUE OF CORRUPTION from Amazon which you can do RIGHT NOW!
em>
Kent’s book PLAGUE was released by Skyhorse Publishing, in 2014 and is now available in paperback with NEW material.
The book is co-authored with Judy Mikovits PhD. It is an indictment of the “Fake Science” we find so prevalent in the US.
Then, of course, there is the “Mask” book outlining ten good reasons to be doubtful about masks.
“that friend’s mine” ??
you’ve “crossed-over” ???
Someone’s put a spell on you
Thank you for doing what you do to inform the Public. I was appalled by K. Harris during the VP debate. When I heard her say something very concerning, and despicable. She made the comment about this new Vaccine, and that, Children do not want to kill their Parents. I have heard this before with Bill’s significant other Mel Gates that said to kids, “You don’t want to kill your Teacher,” The psychological message damage that passes on to a Child is disgusting and abusive to even make such a statement. This Flu has shown it does not have actual numbers or deaths to show that it is as bad as predicted. The CDC came out with a 6% actual death rate. Way less than the flu years past. They have padded the numbers with Auto-Accidents, Drug Overdoses and many other illnesses to peak the so called numbers. The test as shown are not a death sentence and show that mostly all recover, again just like the seasonal flu.